Come to share an inspiring labor event or leader in your life. It could be in San Francisco or elsewhere in the U.S.A. or the world. Photos, news clippings, prose, and poems are welcome.

SF Mime Troupe's play - Using the classic pirate novel Treasure Island as its inspiration the show is the story of Hawkins, a civil servant in San Francisco, who accidentally stumbles upon the plans of a developer, L.J. Silver. ...developing Treasure Island for his own greed.

Join Park Ranger Peter Kasin in the Visitor Center for a talk on what was the largest strike in West Coast history, and on its famed strike leader Harry Bridges.

Workers at Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco have joined ILWU Local 6 and are fighting for a union contract. We will be having a gathering at the Tasting Room of Anchor Public Taps in Potrero Hill in San Francisco.

Join the walk with Gifford Hartman and Jack Heyman.
Eighty-five years ago at this location, a great battle took place by workers and residents of San Francisco against the police and National Guard.

Presentation - Join Comfort Women Justice Coalition leader Judith “Mirk” Murkson who is also with the Lawyers Guild who will provide a history of the monument and what it means today.

Four-hour bike tour by Chris Carlsson
From the pre-urban history of Indian Slavery to the earliest 8-hour day movement in the U.S., the ebb and flow of class war is traced.

Film - This dramatic film tells the story of the mass June democracy movement in 1987, when students began to protest the military government, and student activist Park Jong-chul was murdered by the police followed by a cover-up.

Book reading by David Walters
Eugene Debs is one of the most important working class leaders in the history of the United States, yet most working people have never heard of him. He was in the 1877 national railway strike. He organized the Pullman strike, and he was convicted and served 6 months in prison.

The growing downsizing of San Francisco Community College by the Rocha administration is not unique. Through privatization plans of online education, which is getting hundreds of millions to replace professors, and the Student Success Taskforce, California’s community colleges face a frontal attack.

The controversy over the Victor Arnautoff murals at George Washington High School brings to San Francisco the public discourse over public art that is interpreted to portray, or actually glorifies, a narrow Eurocentric view of history.

San Francisco is now a world center of tech, yet the workers are under extreme stress and face nightmare conditions with no worker or union rights. Has capitalism gone wild and is this the permanent dystopian world or can working people and our unions transform this city and society? These are some of the questions that will be addressed in this event.

More and more workers in San Francisco and throughout the country have had enough on the job and are joining unions to collectively stand up for their rights. Workers from Anchor Steam Brewery and VCA will talk about how and why they decided to join a union and what this means to all working people.

With Film Screening of “The Olympics In Fukushima, Are You Criminally Insane?”
This forum will hear in the film from workers in Fukushima ..... We will also hear about those who are fighting to expose the massive propaganda campaign by the government and the Olympic Committee to whitewash the continuing dangers.

This conference will discuss how workers from all public service unions can come together for education and a national political education campaign to stop privatization and outsourcing.
This conference will have reports on privatization and outsourcing in San Francisco, the US, and around the world.

Turn the clock back to 1901, when the park’s Living History players re-enact San Francisco’s waterfront strike. Representatives from labor and management will argue for and against the strike, followed by a march along Hyde Street Pier with picket signs.

Walk with Matthew Britten (Fort Point Guide)
Participants of the walk will learn about the construction of Fort Point and Alcatraz through the eyes of the those who did the work.

Join poets, musicians, and artists, who will speak and sing out against fascism. The rise of fascism is also a threat to unions and working people as it divides the working people and pits them against each other.

With Peter O’Driscoll and Harvey Smith
They were being painted during the time of the 1934 general strike in San Francisco. At the time of their installation, an organized effort was made to destroy them because of their leftist themes. The artists and their supporters had to physically defend the site.

Join the best labor maritime boat trip in the world as we go to historical sites on the bay and the Oakland container port. We will hear about our working class history, and how the SF General Strike helped shape the character of San Francisco and the Bay Area.

With Robert Orvetz, Gifford Hartman
This year is the 100th anniversary of the Seattle General Strike. The Seattle General Strike started on Thursday, February 6, 2019. On February 7, US troops entered Seattle.

Film - Long before Martin Luther King, Jr. became a national figure, Bayard Rustin routinely put his body — and his life — on the line as a crusader for racial justice. The compelling new film Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin chronicles Rustin’s complex life story, a tale of race, prejudice, and idealism at the heart of 20th century America.

San Francisco used to be the largest port in Northern California. Over the last forty years, it has become a tourist trap instead of a working port. Is the same thing in store for the Port of Oakland?

American Federation of Musicians AFM Local 6 invites members to a free workshop on musician’s workplace health. Dr. Jeremy Stanek who specializes in workplace injury/health and wellness specifically for gigging musicians will make a presentation followed by discussion.

Can it get any worse? That is the question working people are asking about the transit crisis and grinding gridlock.
The forum will look at the reason for the transit gridlock, how it effecting public transit workers, the public and the environment.

The San Francisco Living Wage Coalition's 9th annual awards dinner. Honorees: Labor Woman of the year award to Denise D'Anne, Labor Man of the year award - Dave Welsh.

Film - The future is here and it isn’t pretty, is part of the story in Boots Riley’s “Sorry To Bother You”. Young workers in the tech economy face a dire state, and this film shows how with ideology of capitalism, that you as an individual, can make it even if you have to run over other workers.

Walk with Harvey Smith
This walk will explore the “New Deal nexus” in Berkeley that includes Berkeley High School, the Community Theater, Civic Center Park, Post Office art, the old UC Press Building, and the old Farm Credit Building.

With Peter O’Driscoll (IBEW), Laurence Shoup (UAW-NWU)
The walk will focus on the maritime industry from 1835 until the burning of the blue book in 1934. Also, labor historian Larry Shoup will discuss the history of the 1901 transportation workers strike led by the Teamsters, which the San Francisco police attempted, but failed, to smash.

Walk with Paul Bouscal
In 1968, David Schooley chained himself to a bulldozer at the foot of the San Bruno Mountain. The activism of David and many other community members was crucial in protecting much of the mountain, allowing for the creation of a public park.

This forum will look at the issue of who is a journalist and the right of journalists to do their work. Although Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been a member of the Australian MEEA’s Media section since 2007, and this is the trade union that represents Australia media workers, the media, however, continue to argue that he is not a journalist and does not deserve to be protected.

With Gifford Hartman, David Duckworth
During this walking tour, we visit several sites, which were integral to the unfolding of events following a bomb explosion on Steuart Street at Market Street on July 22, 1916. The tour lasts approximately two hours.

With Evelyn Rose, Glen Park Neighborhoods History Project
Loretta Starvus Stack, Communist organizer and founder of Crags Court Community Gardens played a key role in the clarification of the intent of the Alien Registration Act that originally denied First Amendment rights to those choosing to discuss the overthrow of the Federal government.

This panel will discuss the advance of California Assembly Bill 5 impacting the rights of worker and corporate abuses being exaserbated by tech platforms.

We will read from our recently released works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Come hear stories about the lives and struggles of laborers, farmers, cooks, coal miners, and others from around the world.

Book reading by Jen Schradie on "The Revolution That Wasn't: How Digital Activism Favors Conservatism"
This surprising study of online political mobilization shows that money and organizational sophistication influence politics online as much as off, and casts doubt on the democratizing power of digital activism.

A recent wave of strikes, rallies, and wildcat actions led by teachers across the country have drawn attention to the most urgent issues faced by students and educators. This panel seeks to tell the stories of local teachers and parent activists, many of whom have been underreported or ignored by the mainstream media.

There is a crisis in our state and national OSHA system. Workers who speak up about their health and safety and the dangers to the public are being bullied and terminated. We will hear from whistleblowers and the connection between the protection of OSHA whistleblowers and public health and safety.

Join us for presentations that focus on important labor strikes that occurred during the building of the Transcontinental Railroad and those that followed. California was the second most important center of this nationwide strike, which saw armed workers take over sections of the Southern Pacific line in the state.

Since November of 2018, there have been weekly protests in France.
Come and hear a presentation by Camille Chauchat, a French school teacher and an activist and participant in the Yellow Vest Movement in Lyons, France.
More info:bccs4sclub@gmail.com

Film - 1942. Occupied Norway. Teachers must join the Nazi Teachers’ League and teach Nazi ideas in their classrooms. 8,000 of them write protest letters. The Nazi government arrests 1000 male teachers and sends them to prison camps, 300 miles above the Arctic Circle. The education system is in chaos and now the battle begins.

A discussion focused on the present and historical connection between the labor and environmental movements.

This educational conference will look at the history of charters, how they are destroying public education and what teachers are doing to fight back to defend our public school system.

By Harvey Smith
From the first scoops of Bay mud to the final coat of paint applied to the buildings of the Golden Gate International Exposition, organized labor was there.

Walk with Amy O’Hair
City College of San Francisco Ocean Campus was planned and built to include art works by WPA artists. See the numerous works and hear stories of the artists who created them. We’ll visit all the major pieces and some hidden treasures that need restoration.

Walk with Gifford Hartman
This walk will revisit the sites of Oakland’s “Work Holiday” that spontaneously began with rank-and-file solidarity with the striking, mostly women retail clerks at Kahn’s and Hastings department stores, where picket lines were broken by police-escorted scabs.

Music by The Rockin’ Solidarity Chorus
Featuring tunes old and new in four-part harmony, the show focuses on inspiring individuals and the movements that unite them.

Walk with Brad Wiedmaier
In this history-by-the-buildings walk, Brad Wiedmaier will outline artifacts and events, and their connections to San Francisco’s past and present.

Book reading by Mitchel Cohen
Cohen looks at the politics behind the pesticide chemical industry, and why it is not being held accountable.

Film - The promise of the fight for a free South Africa and against the apartheid regime was partly contained in the Freedom Charter. This film looks at what happened to the promise and how the fight for equality and full human rights were subverted by a government that bowed down to the IMF and World Bank. Following this film there will be a discussion.

Slides presentation by Joseph Blum
Joseph Blum is one of the leading national photographers of building trades workers and their talent and skills. His latest work is the construction of the Salesforce skyscraper.

films - "Metro Ladies Blues" - This is a story of non-permanent workers at underground subway kiosks fighting for union.
"Phansi, Down with Labour Brokers" - In South Africa, the condition of working class is captured through the eyes of Jacob, whose life is transformed from unfair dismissal

This is the 26th year of LaborFest! Please join us to celebrate the last day of LaborFest 2019. Bring a contribution of food and/or beverage for potluck, or instrument for the open mic.

Curated by Duckworth Artists were asked to address the nature and agency of work in a world rapidly transformed by pandemic and changing through political, societal and technological prerogatives. Several artists focus here on the interconnections between labor and technology, or the seemingly dissociated realms...

Workers World Media production director in South Africa, Martin Jansen, screens a video documentary on the effect of Covid-19 in South Africa and the systemic problems that worker face. Despite the promises of the Freedom Charter public health care for all is still not a...

ZOOM Recording This feature-length documentary focuses on the efforts by troops in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War to oppose the war effort by peaceful demonstration and fragging their officers. The racism in the military and the use of the military by Trump to...

Can the revolution be social distanced? Find out this Summer with the San Francisco Mime Troupe as they present 4 series of original political comedy audio plays, broadcast bi-weekly, each written and performed by Mime Troupe veterans and newcomers, and each in a different style....

Poetry Word Performance by David Lee Morgan David Lee Morgan, a Play-writer and performer focuses the rise of racism and US capitalism. He has performed internationally and is a longstanding member of the Writers Guild of Great Britain. The video of this event will be...

The mass protest movement against the murder and lynching of George Floyd and many many others has led to a struggle in the labor movement about the role of the police whether they should be in the unions. The AFL-CIO as well as other unoins...

By Gifford Hartman Eighty-six years ago a great battle took place between striking workers and the police and National Guard along the waterfront besides the piers of San Francisco's Embarcadero. We will look at the causes of the 1934 General Strike and why it was...

Meet at 518 valencia, near 16th St., SF By Chris Carlsson (Sliding scale $15 - 50, benefiting Shaping San Francisco) From the pre-urban history of Indian Slavery to the earliest 8-hour day movement in the U.S., the ebb and flow of class war is traced....

ZOOM Recording With George Wright, Steve Zeltzer In the midst of the warfare between both the Democrats & Republicans the racist murder of George Floyd has led to the biggest mass protest in the post war period. At the same time, more than 44 million...

ZOOM Recording UBER, Lyft and other gig transportation platforms are spending over $120 million to overturn AB5 which required these companies to provide workers comp, social security and other protections. Will this law destroy the gig companies and what is the reality for gig workers...

This event was postponed until the later in the month. Federation of Retired Union Members (FORUM) is affiliated with the San Francisco Labor Council with the purpose of promoting and preserving the spirit of unionism and participating in the campaigns and activities of labor. Participants represent...

ZOOM Recording The US has a long history in the fight for labor parties. This forum will look at this history and the prospects for such a party today in the United States. First it will briefly look at the long history of the fight...

A Discussion between playwright Howard Pflanzer and Steve Zeltzer about the controversy over artistic expression swirling around the 1936 George Washington murals by Victor Arnautoff at the San Francisco high school named after Washington. The San Francisco school district voted 850,000 dollars to paint over...

We'll share a web link in the call where you can watch the film. Then stick around for our Zoom Q&A panel featuring filmmakers Jay Galione and special guests, Audrey Davis, Christopher Shaw and more. Jay Galione, son of a postal worker, investigates the dark corners...

ZOOM Recording The continued growth of charters, co-locations and privatization threaten the right to an equal education. The privatizers are using the pandemic to massively expand online education and also further eliminate public schools. The forum will examine the history of charters and privatization and...

ZOOM Recording How Workers Can Confront Automation & Legal Attacks On Our Unions Automation,  artificial intelligence AI, along with robotics in our economy threaten millions of workers and their ability to keep or get a job. This panel will look at how these technologies are...

ZOOM Recording By Harvey Smith   Despite the recent court decisions, the political battle over immigration has been reduced by some to a political dog whistle. Historically, the story of New Deal art, its initial advocates and its artists informs us with a deeper understanding...

Despite the coronavirus pandemic with Covid-19, Tesla owner Elon Musk has brazenly ignored shelter in place orders and continued to run the factory. Workers were then coerced to go to work despite serious health and safety fears from themselves and their families. Tesla workers will...

Group Yorum is a folk music group that has been banned by the government of Turkey.  They sing songs about freedom, of brotherhood and sisterhood of people, of workers dying on the job, nations, races and genders.  For this reason, the Turkish government has declared...

ZOOM Recording The explosion of Covid-19 cases in the United States and the inability of one of the richest countries in the world to handle the pandemic has exposed the serious systemic problems with the US. Speakers will discuss the reasons for the medical healthcare...

In the midst of a dangerous and deadly pandemic, why is OSHA and Cal-OSHA missing in action? Panelists in including former Cal-OSHA Medical director Larry Rose will look at the dismemberment of the programs and what it mean today for working people. The video of...

The rapid rise of anti-Asian racism and xenophobia has a long history in California and the US. The effort to rewrite history to censor and sanitize the discriminatory treatment of Asians in the US is also mirrored by the Japanese government which seeks to deny...

This PowerPoint presentation will explore the background for Berkeley’s New Deal legacy. Our tours, when in person, begin at the corner of the “New Deal nexus” that includes Berkeley High School and the Community Theater, art in the Post Office, the old Farm Credit Building...

The attack on US and Mexican woerkers will be the focus of this LaborFest event. Workers on both sides of the border face the Covid pandemic and attacks on their labor and human rights. These workers face multi-nationals who ignore and violate health and safety laws...

David Mills - The past is prologue: Black bodies: the bodies of evidence Mills will read poems, largely about the physical and psychological assault mostly by white males on the black body from this country's antebellum period to the murders of Breonna Taylor and George...

The San Francisco Unified School Board has voted to spend more than $800,000 to cover-up the Victor Arnautoff George Washington High murals. The panel will look at labor particularly the ILWU and the history of the Victor Arnautoff murals. This panel will look at the...

The underfunding and destruction of community colleges is escalating as the depression deepens. What is happening and what should our unions be doing about it. Speakers: Rick Baum, CCSF AFT 2121 Carol Lang, CUNY AFT PSC John Holmes, AFT PFT George Wright, Skyline College AFT...

The Moment Was Now takes place in post-civil war Baltimore in 1869, a turning point in U.S. history when “America almost did the right thing.” The contemporary themes of the search for racial and economic justice and women’s rights reverberate throughout the musical. The story...

Chile and US Healthcare Workers Under Covid & Capitalist Control Workers’ Rights are Human Rights: nowhere in the world has the global pandemic unmasked the crisis of capitalism more clearly than in Chile and the US. Both countries have the highest rates of infection of...

By Gifford Hartman This year is the 74th anniversary of the Oakland General Strike. This presentation will revisit the sites of Oakland’s “Work Holiday” that spontaneously began with rank-and-file solidarity with the striking, mostly women retail clerks at Kahn’s and Hastings department stores, where picket...

This forum will look at the plans by the UCSF management and Chancellor to destroy the historic Bernard Zakheim mural which tells the history of  Bridget “Biddy" Mason, an African American midwife who rose from slavery to become a midwife medical worker in California. Her life of...

Meet at ILWU sculpture at Mission & Steuart, SF Walk with Brad Wiedmaier, SEIU 2015 member & architectural historian. San Francisco has a rich political and labor history that is also connected to its buildings. In this history-by-the-buildings walk, Brad Wiedmaier will outline artifacts and...

Readers from the LaborFest Writers Group share memoir, storytelling, oral history, and poetry. The theme of this year's reading is LaborFest Writers' Reflections on Current Events. LaborFest Writers explore the issues that we face today within our families, communities, and government whether its health, housing, jobs,...

The Revolutionary Poetry Brigade will perform their work in the midst of the continuous lynchings of Blacks in the US. The voices of the oppressed will be heard through words and music. Poets: Karen Melander Magoon Agneta Falk Greg Pond Gary Hicks Barbara Paschke Lisbit...

By the People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group People’s Park is at the center of fifteen other officially recognized city landmarks, which collectively are a de facto historic district. They represent the heritage of the 1960s and the context of the larger theme of a...

Screening and discussion with the story teller John McDonagh A comedic glimpse into 35 years behind the wheel of a New York City yellow taxi, Off The Meter is a pithy social commentary from New York’s most recognizable cab driver about life spent behind the wheel.  John...

Lois Scott San Francisco’s St. Francis Square Cooperative Walking Tour Organizer Work In Progress... Walking Tour and History of Union Sponsored Affordable Housing, St. Francis Square Cooperative   Virtual walking tour of San Francisco’s Saint Francis Square Cooperative established by the International Longshore and Warehouse...

Explore this unique history of Angel Island with park volunteer, maritime worker and activist James Dexter-Lee. Angel Island, the largest island in San Francisco Bay, today is a popular California State Park.  Located strategically inside the Golden Gate, at the nexus of San Pablo Bay...

Film - Fordham SDS (http://www.fordhamsds.org) 37:17  minutes  (2014) Discussion after the film. The SDS rebellion against racism and the education system is screened in this film by Bert Schultz. The film is an inside look at the struggle at Fordham college in New York and...